Introducing the AIDPOD concept

Click on the images to see them full-size on Flickr.

While in Tanzania I mocked up two types of ‘ColaLife’ pods and went out to get people’s reaction to them. The ‘wedge’ pod was much more popular than the ‘tube’, because the tube would displace a bottle.

There are other very significant benefits from moving from focussing on distributing a particular product (ORS with hygiene and sanitation educational materials). Among these are:

It allows the essential local determination of what is distributed and when. Needs will vary from location to location and from season to season and what is distributed MUST be determined locally by those with the long term responsibility for public health care;

It potentially allows the idea to be replicated across the World after successful local trials;

It also dis-associates the Coca-Cola product/brand with a particular ‘social product’ which is likely to enable a wider range of products to be distributed.

Following this, at the first ColaLife face to face event, there was some discussion about what the pod should be called. Given that the pod idea has a broader application than Coca-Cola crates is ‘ColaLife Pod’ the right name?

Then on 27/12/08 in the BBC Radio 4 iPM feature, Eddie Mair rounded off the 10 minute interview saying “Simon Berry and his AidPod”. So we got the name we were struggling for after the face to face meeting. The following domain names have been registered just in case we need them in the future: